


Thanks for the Warning

by SnKWarrior122



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: AU Where Hide was born a ghoul, Awkward boys being awkward in relationships, Basically the ending to the manga/anime didn't happen, But those that died before are dead, It's not Tokyo Ghoul if there's no gore, Kaneki is a clueless dork, M/M, People that died in the last few episodes are alive, Shiro is protective of him, Shironeki | White-haired Kaneki, Yaoi, mentions of gore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-09 04:27:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5525351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnKWarrior122/pseuds/SnKWarrior122
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Where Hide was born a ghoul, and there are two "Kaneki's." There's Shiro, the one who went through the events of the manga/anime, and there's Kaneki, a normal college student.<br/>Kaneki has long been friend's with Hide. One day, Hide introduces him to a white haired man at a coffee shop, and suddenly, his world is turned upside down. For better or worse, he'll have to find out. All he knows is: he didn't get a warning for this!<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my fic, thanks for stopping by. I'm pretty new to the fandom, but I hope I'm able to portray the characters right. Please let me know any mistakes! I like to know what I do wrong so I can fix it. Other than that, this ship sucked me in and this idea came to my head. So, I'm writing it. Should update regularly, but if not, spam me until I do. XD Anyways, here's the prologue. It's really short, but it leads you into the story well enough.

Ragged breaths tore from the raven haired boy's mouth as he ran, trying in vain to escape his attacker, to which he knew to be a ghoul, and a hungry one at that. Turning another corner brought him into an alleyway, and he prayed that it didn’t have a dead end like many of the others in the city. But his prayers were not answered. Soon enough he came to it – the dead end, the place where he would meet his demise. Spinning around, the young man desperately scanned the area for an exit, coming up with none. He was going to die here, _he was going to die here-_

“Kaneki!"

The voice seemed to halt the ghoul that was almost upon the raven, ready for the kill, and Kaneki felt a rush a relief. _Hide._ Hide was here to save him. Never before had he been so happy to hear his friend’s loud mouth in the middle of the night.

But then panic seized him. There was a hungry ghoul about to eat him – what was stopping that ghoul from trying to eat Hide as well?

“H-hide, don’t come back here!” he yelled in response, a tremble in his voice.

And just like that, the ghoul that had been chasing him took off, disappearing into the night without a trace. Kaneki blinked after it, body shaking. The whole thing felt surreal. What had just happened? How was he still alive?

“Huh? Kaneki, what are you talking about? Are you okay?” Hide’s figure appeared before him, a concerned expression on his face. His brown eyes were scanning Kaneki up and down, making sure the black haired male was not injured in any way.

Kaneki slightly curled in on himself, thinking back to what just happened. “T-there was a g-ghoul… I was going to die. Oh, _god_ , Hide, I was going to die!” he sobbed out, lurching forward and clinging to the bleached blond.

Hide almost fell backwards from surprise. He straightened himself out and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You’re talking nonsense, man.” He felt Kaneki tense. “Listen. It’s late, you’ve been reading too much horror. Are you sure you’re all right?”

The raven sighed quietly. He was sure… it was so real. It had to have been real. But… but… Hide was right. He’d been reading too much horror lately. Takatsuki Sen’s novels were so addicting. But – to the matter at hand – he decided it best not to argue about it, seeing as they were both safe and unharmed. “I don’t know anymore, Hide.” A sudden cold wind rushed through the alley and Kaneki pulled his jacket closer to his body. “It’s cold. Let’s go.” _Let’s get out of the dark alleyway in the middle of the night._

“Sure thing, buddy,” the blond replied cheerily, helping his friend to his feet and leading the way back towards the entrance to the alley. “Say, we should get coffee tomorrow. I found this nice little shop, you’d love it."

Kaneki gave it a little thought. He didn’t have classes tomorrow, seeing as how it was Saturday, so he was free. Shrugging, he nodded to his friend. “Okay.”


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaneki and Hide get their coffee fix. Plus other stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter lengths will vary, but they will all be 1,200+ words. I just write till I feel like that's enough.

For all the times that Hide could be a real grump if you woke him up, he didn't seem to have any care for when he woke up anyone else.

So that's how Kaneki's Saturday started; being woken up by his phone ringing off the hook, the caller ID displaying the one and only person who would do such a thing: Hideyoshi Nagachika.

Groaning, the now-awake raven reached out and picked up the device, answering the phone call and not even being able to get out a 'hello' before Hide was talking excitedly into it.

"Yo, Kaneki, you're awake, right? Oh, of course you are! Hey, you're still planning to join me for coffee, right? I'll text you the address of the place and you can meet me there, okay? Sounds good? Of course it does!"

Kaneki had no chance to speak in between Hide's fast words, but he was used to how excitable the bleached blond was. "Sure, Hide. But, could you _please_ give me some time to get up first?" he replied with a fond smile, a quiet yawn escaping his lips.

He could hear Hide's dramatic sigh on the other end of the line. "Yeah, yeah, just don't take too long, okay?" The raven could imagine the pout that Hide would be wearing on his face at this point.

Kaneki snorted, about to reply when he realized that the line was dead. Hide had the nerve to hang up on him. Well, it's not like he would do something about it in the first place. This was just his friend's hyperactive nature. Shaking his head, he replaced the phone on the nightstand before slowly beginning to move himself out of bed.

Once standing, the black haired college student stretched, feeling the bones in his back crack loudly as he did so. Afterwards, he moved at a semi-slow pace about his business, doing only slightly to spite Hide, but he was still half-asleep. Finally, he had gathered himself together enough to leave, and he did so, placing his shoes on his feet before wrapping his cyan jacket around himself and exiting the apartment in which he lived.

When he got to the doors of the apartment complex, he checked his phone, and sure enough, he had a few texts from his blond friend, most of which were one worded messages like, "Kaneki!!!". Finding the text with the address, he recognized the street name and thought about how he would get there.

He's been to that neighborhood before, so he knew the different ways to get there. Which way would be the quickest?

Nodding to himself with the path he was going to take, Kaneki headed off, a small smile playing at his lips.

 

He wondered if Hide was already inside, waiting for him to show up.

The place looked nice enough from the outside and it had a nice name to it, too. _Anteiku._ As Kaneki ascended the stairs to the coffee shop, he briefly wondered if he’d like the place. Well, as long as it was peaceful, then maybe he would come back for coffee and reading.

Opening the shop door when he reached the top of the stairs, it came open easily, with a bell sound to signify that someone had arrived.

The place looked just as nice on the inside, if not more homely than he originally thought. Hide had actually found a decent place this time.

"Welcome! Please come in!” the employee working the counter – an older gentlemen with eyes that didn’t seem to be open – greeted, continuing with his cleaning of a glass. Kaneki nodded in return, still looking the shop over.

His admiring of the place was cut short when a sudden head of blond hair was in front of him, and his life was flashing before his eyes as he was held in a death-grip of a hug without warning. When he was finally released, the raven was met with the blinding grin of his best friend. “Took ya long enough!” And then suddenly, Hide was in dramatics, his expression falling while he placed the back of one hand to his face, while the other clutched the fabric of clothing covering his heart. “I was beginning to feel like a poor, poor damsel, stood up on her very first date.”

Kaneki's snort in reply was enough to bring the grin back to the bleached blond’s face. “Okay, okay, I know, but you did take your sweet time getting here,” Hide said in a playful, yet slightly serious tone. “Come on, let’s go sit down and order some coffee.”

The raven nodded in reply and let himself be lead to a table for two right next to the windows where he took a seat across from his friend. Within a minute, the server, a young woman with dark hair that looked to tinged blue and covered her right eye, came over to their table and asked for their order. Hide ordered a black coffee, while Kaneki ordered a latte.

As they waited for their drinks, the two held little conversations, talking about whatever topics came to mind. When their drinks arrived, Kaneki gave a calm thank you to the server, while Hide turned a wide grin in her direction.

"Thank you!" he said rather obnoxiously. She gave him a half-glare before stalking away from the table back to the counter. The blond’s face turned to take in his friend’s confused expression before allowing a small smile to now grace his lips. “Don’t mind Touka. She’s not as bad as she acts.”

Kaneki's eyebrows creased. Hide knew the waitress enough to do things like this? After he asked the other about it, he received a simple reply of, “When you hang around a place enough, you start to become acquainted with others who do the same thing.”

Ah, so Hide had been here many times before inviting Kaneki to join him. The raven nodded in understanding, curling his fingers around the latte he had ordered, raising it to his lips and taking a sip. The warm liquid slid over his tongue and almost instantly he felt a sense of calm wash over him. “You were right, Hide, this is really good,” he admitted, taking another sip of the delicious drink.

"Right?! Did you doubt me, Kaneki?!” the bleached blond exclaimed loudly after gulping down half his coffee.

A soft smile overtook the black haired male's features. "Of course not."

The two went back to quiet conversations, even getting a second drink for Hide. Touka seemed less than thrilled that they were sticking around, but she never said a word, other than the almost inaudible insults about Hide she spewed under her breath as she walked away. But the blond didn’t seem to mind, he just continued to be obnoxious to her every time she came near their table. It seemed to be the dynamic the two had going on. Kaneki didn’t question it anymore.

Kaneki hadn’t even realized he had started to not pay attention to his surroundings until he heard a door open and close. There was no bell chime with it, so no new customer had entered or exited. In curiosity, he turned his head to look at what it was that had happened, and the raven noticed a (rather attractive) white haired young man in the Anteiku uniform stepping away from the ‘Employees Only’ door. _Another employee like Touka._

And even though he hadn’t meant to, Kaneki found himself staring, a bit curious about this strange man. He was curious in the sense that he had never seen someone with such startling white hair. He had also never been to Anteiku, and since he had decided he wouldn’t mind coming back, maybe he should get to recognize some of the servers. His eyes followed as the employee moved to a now-empty table – Kaneki hadn’t even realized that the person who had sat there was gone – and began cleaning it off.

Before it became creepier than it already was, the black haired male turned back towards the table, gulping down the rest of his latte, which had gone cold due to lack of drinking. He knew Hide had seen him staring and was prepared for the teasing his friend would surely bring, but the blond said nothing, just casting a glance towards the white haired employee before shaking his head.

Finishing his drink, Hide placed down the right amount of money to cover for the both of them before standing. “Come on, Kaneki, let’s get going. I’ll walk you home. I have to work later and I want to have time to get ready for it.”

Kaneki nodded, rising from his chair and following the blond out of the coffee shop without a glance back.

 


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That strange white haired young man makes a reappearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got my friends in real life into this ship. I feel proud. Now they're reading my fic (hopefully). Hey guys! And also thanks for everyone else who's reading this as well. As for Shiro, I know he acts a lot like Kaneki in canon, but I wanted to make him more... cocky? Something like that. I feel like it works.  
> If you wish, you can refer to me by Blitz. It's a nickname I use often.~

It was a little over a week before Hide invited Kaneki to join him at Anteiku again. It was a weekday, yes, but classes were over for the two and the hyperactive one had no shift this evening.

"I have someone important for you to meet,” Hide promised, skipping as he led the way towards the small coffee shop the two had been at prior.

The raven snorted at his friend. “Should I really trust that, Hide?” he inquired in a slightly sarcastic, yet friendly manner, eyeballing the bleached blond skeptically.

Hide gave him a pouting face. “Aw, come on, Kaneki, have I really done anything that bad in the past?” He paused for a second to think it over. “You know what? Don’t answer that,” he told the raven with a grin coming to his features. “Please just come with me.”

And with that puppy dog-eyed look Hide was giving him, Kaneki could do nothing but give in and agree to go, even though he had planned to go the entire time. “Fine, fine, just look where you’re walking-"

Before he could get the whole sentence of his mouth, the bleached blond had walked backwards into a stop sign. The black haired male only chuckled when his friend jumped away from the metal, exclaiming, “I’m fine, I’m fine!” Then Hide began walking – this time facing forward – proudly as if nothing had just happened. Kaneki had to increase his walking speed for a bit to keep up with his hyperactive friend.

 

With no further incidents, the two finally arrived at Anteiku. Just as Hide was about to open the door to the shop, a man in a business suit came rushing out, almost running the two standing outside over, exclaiming apologies over his shoulder as well as statements of being late. Kaneki shrugged it off. In this busy city, it wasn’t unusual to see people rushing around to get where they needed to be.

Hide was able to open the door this time without a problem and held it open for Kaneki before entering himself. The same older man was at the counter again, giving them the same greeting as he had given the raven before.

The bleached blond led him over to a table in the corner this time, telling him to stay there as he went over and talked to the man at the counter. The man nodded before disappearing into the back. Hide returned to the table and took a seat next to Kaneki.

The black haired male gave his best friend a questioning glance, but the blond shrugged and told him not to worry about it.

Looking back to where the older gentleman had gone through the ‘Employees Only’ door, the raven noticed that the door was now open, with the man returning to his post at the counter. Right behind the old man came the same white haired employee from last time, only this time, he wasn’t in uniform. Kaneki recognized him immediately.

Said white haired male scanned over the place until his eyes found the table where Kaneki and Hide sat, where his gaze lingered for a moment before he started to approach the two. His gait was neither fast nor slow, and his face said that he’d rather be somewhere else right now.

The raven was confused. If the young man wasn’t working at the moment, which is what he’d assume, since the guy wasn’t in uniform, why was he coming to their table specifically? And then he remembered that Hide had wanted to introduce him to someone. This must be the person he was referring to. How did Hide come to be friends with someone like that? They looked like complete opposites. Well, appearance didn’t always mimic personality, right?

Stopping right in front of their table, the white haired fellow stared directly at Hide. “What do you want?”

The bleached blond grinned up at him. “Aw, don’t be such a downer. Sit down and join us!” he said cheerily, gesturing to the seats across from them.

The man raised an eyebrow for a moment before pulling out the chair across from Hide and taking a seat in it. He looked to the blond, waiting for what he was going to say.

Hide seemed pleased that the other gave no argument when joining them. He placed his arm over Kaneki’s shoulders. “This here is my best friend Kaneki!” he introduced.

Kaneki felt his nerves prickling as the newcomer raked his grey eyes – Kaneki had noticed that both he and this stranger had the same colored eyes – over him. Finally, he gave a hum before speaking in a smooth voice, “Call me Shiro.”

Kaneki nodded to that, giving an experimental small smile to the white haired boy. Shiro continued to look at him for a minute, making the other a bit uncomfortable, before he finally cast his gaze away.

"Hey, Kaneki, did you know that Shiro reads the same kind of books you do? By that one author. Takasuha or whatever,” Hide announced, seemingly proud that he remembered that fact.

"Takatsuki," the other two corrected him at the same time in almost the same tone of voice. Shiro looked at Kaneki in surprise that didn’t really show on his face while Kaneki quickly looked away in embarrassment.

Suddenly, Hide was throwing his head back and laughing loudly. “I knew it,” he wheezed, clapping his hands together. “I knew you two were similar and would get along well.” Kaneki looked over at Hide.

"Oh?" Shiro asked, a smirk slowly beginning to form on his lips as he raised his right hand, which all the fingernails were painted black, to crack his finger in a very odd way that almost seemed painful. “Is that so? I definitely agree with you. Maybe I could even ditch you to be Kaneki’s new best friend.” He nodded and hummed to himself before looking to Kaneki. “Just think of it. We could have so much fun together.” The white haired man reached over and linked arms with the raven, winking at the bleached blond. Kaneki’s face began to tinge red and his body stiffened at the sudden contact. He wouldn’t say anything about how he could feel the muscles of Shiro’s arm as it wrapped around his own.

Hide pouted at them both, grabbing the fabric of the clothing that was directly over his heart. “Oh, you’re so cruel, Shiro,” he said in a mock despair, which only made Shiro smirk more, but he released Kaneki and repositioned himself in his seat. “You guys wouldn’t ditch me, right? Right?”

Kaneki shook his head at Hide with a small smile, while the white haired male shrugged. “I don’t know, Hide, sometimes it’s quite tempting.” But his facial expression said otherwise. Hide was a good friend.

The three shared a laugh – Shiro only a small chuckle – and Kaneki finally began to relax. This wasn’t so bad. Hide hadn’t been wrong once again.

The man who was working the counter – Kaneki learned that he was the manager of the shop – came over, took their orders, and then prepared their drinks. Once again, the latte that the raven got tasted delicious. The other two had gotten black coffees with what Shiro had called “coffee cubes.” The black haired college student didn’t think much on that. _Probably just some type of special sweetener._

They held a conversation for close to an hour, talking a bit about themselves and about random other topics before Shiro glanced at the clock and sighed.

"My shift starts in five minutes,” he explained, rising from his seat. He began walking away but paused, turning to look back at the two. “I suppose I should say thank you for the enjoyable time. If you come by the shop it’s likely I’ll see you again.” And with that, he headed off, going through the door to the back to prepare for his shift.

Kaneki watched the white haired young man’s figure disappear before turning to Hide. “Maybe we should get going as well. I have a test tomorrow that I should study for.”

The bleached blond nodded, draining the rest of his drink. “Yeah. I guess we should. Your nerdy butt has stuff to do.”

"Hey, at least I study for my tests."

"I don't need to study."

After the two placed down the money for their own drinks, they exited Anteiku and headed off to their own places.


	4. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaneki and Shiro unexpectedly meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting the last few days. I was busy. But right now, I've decided I'm going to let this be the last chapter for a while. I'd like to write out as many new chapters for this story as I can before I start posting again so I won't have to worry about writer's block (which comes at random intervals for me.) Hopefully this can tide you over. I'll start working right away.

A few days later found Kaneki finished with the book he had been working on and craving for another to read. He’d heard that Takatsuki Sen had released a new novel about a week ago, so maybe he could find that book.

Hide was currently at work so Kaneki would have to go by himself. Maybe he should also pick up some groceries since he was starting to run low.

Gathering himself together, he headed out the door with his cyan jacket wrapped tightly around his frame since it was colder than the previous days.

It was a five minute walk to the closest book store from Kaneki’s apartment. He was glad it wasn’t raining today. When he arrived there, he took a look around the place, but his hands turned out empty for the book he was looking for. He asked the clerk at the front about it, and she told him that they had sold out of it. He thanked her and exited the store to move onto the next one.

After visiting two other shops and receiving the same results, the raven finally ended up at a quaint little shop a bit farther from his apartment than he would have liked, but it wasn’t worth complaining over. As he scanned through the new release section, he spotted it: the new book by Takatsuki. It was what appeared to be the last copy as well. Grinning to himself at his luck on this find, he reached out a hand to grab the novel when warm skin brushed over his.

Kaneki jerked his hand back, and the other hand _that had been reaching for the same book_ moved away as well. “Could this get anymore cheesy?” a familiar voice said from behind him and the black haired college student turned around, coming face to face with a smirking Shiro.

Kaneki took a step back in surprise, red rising to his cheeks as he lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck. “S-sorry,” he apologized quickly, averting his gaze.

Shiro chuckled lightly. “That hyperactive bastard did say we have the same taste in books. I guess this shouldn’t be so surprising.” He reached back to the shelf, grabbing the book to hold in his hand out to the raven in front of him. “Here. You can have it.”

"A-are you sure, Shiro?” The name felt weird on the black haired male’s tongue. He wasn’t even sure if they were friends – they’d only met a few days ago, through a mutual friend – though it wouldn’t hurt if he considered him as would. After a nod from the white haired man, Kaneki reached out his hand for the novel. “Thank you…”

Right when he was about to lay his fingers on the paper pages, the book was pulled away to be just out of reach of Kaneki. His expression changed to one of confusion at he gazed at Shiro. The slightly taller of the two was smirking down at the college student. “On one condition,” he stated, holding up the forefinger on his opposite hand.

The raven frowned, lowering his hand back to his side once more. “What condition?” he inquired carefully, unsure if he wanted to know what the other male was up to.

"I'm glad you asked, _Kaneki._ ” Kaneki swore that Shiro purposely pronounced each of the syllables in his name to make him feel even more uncomfortable. “When you’re done with the book, I’d like you to bring it by the shop for me. After all, this was the only copy I could find of my rather favorite author.”

The black haired male thought it over. It was the only copy of the novel he could find himself and his favorite author was also Takatsuki. It wouldn’t hurt to stop by Anteiku, get something there, and drop off the book for Shiro. “But… how do I know when you’re going to be working or there at Anteiku?”

The white haired one shrugged. “You have a phone, don’t you?” Kaneki nodded. Shiro held out his empty hand. “Let me see it, then.” The raven pulled his cellular device out of his pocket and handed it off to the white haired individual. He watched as the other’s fingers flew across the screen, inputting what he would assume to be Shiro’s contact information.

Once he was done, the phone was handed back and Shiro now retrieved his own phone from his pocket. After messing around with it for a minute, he put it back into his pocket. “There. Just send me a text or something when you’re done with the book.”

Kaneki nodded, glancing once at his phone before replacing it where it originally was. This time, when the novel was held out to him, he easily grabbed it, thanking Shiro yet again for letting him do this. The other simply shrugged, telling him it was no big deal, so there was no need to make it one.

"Hide was right. It is fun to tease you,” Shiro claimed and Kaneki pouted.

The two went on to discuss their favorite author, the reasons why they liked her writing. Their favorite novels by her were different, but after some explanation, they understood the others’ choice. Finally, they talked about other authors or stories that they liked. Giving each other recommendations when the other had not read the book, they found their reading tastes to be quite similar.

Their conversation had lasted quite a bit of time. Kaneki decided it was time to purchase the book, and so, with Shiro in tow, he made his way to the front counter of the store, placing the novel down upon it. Once he was given what the total price was, he began counting out his money, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning his head in confusion, he noticed that his white haired companion was holding out a small amount of money to him. “Since I’m going to be reading it as well from you, I should probably at least pay for some of it,” Shiro explained. Kaneki smiled, accepting the money before compiling his with it to combine and make the total amount owed.

The book purchased and in a bag on his arm, the raven and Shiro stepped out of the book store. Kaneki shivered a little a chilly air. It was fall – it would only get colder from here.

His white haired companion must have noticed his reaction, though, because he turned to face Kaneki. “There’s a café right around the corner from here. Wanna go?”

The college student was surprised at the offer. _Well, we are technically friends now. This is what friends do._ With this justification from his head, the raven nodded. “Sure. That sounds great.”

Kaneki allowed the other to lead the way, watching as a flower shop employee tended to the displays on the outside of the building. Those wouldn’t be out there for much longer.

The two turned the corner and, as Shiro had said, quite literally, the café was right there. Entering, they immediately stepped up to the short line at the counter, waiting the two people until it was their turn to order. Kaneki asked for hot chocolate while Shiro once again asked for black coffee. After having their order taken and paying for it, the two moved to a table in the corner.

Kaneki relaxed into his seat. He’d been walking and standing ever since he’d left his apartment – this chair, no matter how basic, wannabe comfortable it was, felt like heaven. Shiro looked at him curiously before shrugging and casting his gaze somewhere else.

In a few minutes, their drinks were served to their table. Kaneki watched as steam rolled off both of them in waves, only wrapping a hand around his warm cup, not wanting to burn his tongue by drinking it. As he observed, his white haired companion didn’t even seem to hesitate when putting the cup to his lips and taking a big drink. _Didn’t that burn?_

"A little bit, but I can stand it,” the reply came as a surprise until the raven realized that he’d said that out loud.

A flush came to his cheeks. “Oh.” He remained quiet after that, raising the drink in his hands to blow on it, cooling it down enough for him to take a sip. It was better than instant hot chocolate.

It was silent at the table for a few minutes, the only noise being the two sipping at their drinks. Shiro finally decided to break it. “So, I’m curious. How did you meet Hide?”

Kaneki's eyebrows creased as he thought back to the first time he and Hide had spoken to each other. A small smile rested on his lips. “After my mom died, I was always that one kid that didn’t interact with the others and sat in the corner reading. Hide was the one who introduced himself to me and asked to by my friend. I couldn’t be more thankful for him,” he explained.

"Hide approached you? Huh,” Shiro almost murmured with a slight frown.

The college student was confused. “Is that bad?”

The white haired young man shook his head. “No. It makes sense for Hide.”

"How about you? How did you meet Hide?” Kaneki inquired.

Shiro almost looked uncomfortable for a moment before he cracked his knuckle in that strange fashion of his. “Let’s see… I met him through Anteiku. He knew everyone who worked there and hung around the place before I even found it. I began working there, and of course, the loud mouth couldn’t stay away from me.” He shrugged with a very faint, pretty much not noticeable, fond smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I can’t say it was a bad thing, though.”

Kaneki nodded in understanding, but he was still curious. “How long ago was this?”

"I don’t know. A year ago, maybe?”

_Hide's been hanging around Anteiku for at least a year? The way he described it to me, it sounded like a pretty recent discovery. Maybe I was just assuming._ “Well, I can’t say I blame you all for wanting to work or hang around there. Anteiku’s a great place. Was it easy to get a job there?”

Shiro briefly touched his hand to his chin. “Yeah. All I had to do was apply. But I think we have enough employees with Nishiki joining us and what not.”

"Nishiki? I’ve heard Hide mention that name before…”

"He goes to the university with you two,” the taller of the two supplied, finishing his coffee.

Kaneki finished his drink as well. “Yeah, that’s probably why.” He began rising from his chair. “Thank you for the time today. It was enjoyable. And again, thank you for the book.”

Shiro stood as well, following behind Kaneki out of the café. “Don’t mention it.”

It was starting to get dark when they got outside. The raven sighed. “I stayed out longer than I thought,” he commented, turning to say goodbye to his companion. But he was stopped.

"I'll walk you home.”

"Y-you don’t have to do that for me. I can walk home on my own,” Kaneki began objecting, a blush rising to his neck.

Shiro only shook his head, a grim expression on his face. He leaned in closer to the shorter of the two. “This is a different place at night,” he whispered.

Red began to wash over Kaneki’s face. “W-what? You mean, like, the ghouls?” His memory jumped back to that night not so long ago when he had that strange encounter.

The white haired male abruptly pulled back and stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. “Yeah. But in general, it’s not safe to be alone in the dark.”

"Are you sure it’s okay? I don’t want to make you do something-“

"Don't worry about it, okay? I said I’d walk you home and I will. Just shut up already and lead the damn way.”


	5. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaneki decides to hang out at Anteiku on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in the chapter! School started back up and killed my motivation for writing to be honest. But I'm back! This chapter is kinda filler-y. I really just needed a split between the last chapter and the next one to be coming. Plus, I now have my friends who are reading this fic and are yelling at me to write. The next chapter won't be for a few days. On Saturday, I'm going to Ohayocon with some friends. I also have to practice my lines for the play I will be performing in for school.

The next day, Kaneki went through classes rather uninterested in the topics being discussed. Whenever he had the chance, he’d pull out his new book and do some reading. He was only in the beginning, but so far it was good. At least it was Friday, so he’d have a weekend to get reading done.

The walk home with Shiro last night had been rather uneventful. The two barely even spoke, and when they’d gotten to the raven’s apartment complex, his white haired companion just wished him a good night before disappearing. Kaneki knew his friend had strange habits and behavior. It would take a while to get used to those.

When classes were over for the day, the black haired male was glad. Hide caught up with him outside and asked what he had planned for this weekend.

"I was going to buy groceries today and then read the new Takatsuki novel I bought yesterday.”

"Boring!" Hide exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exaggeration. “How can you sit there and read all the time? You and Shiro are such party poopers sometimes, I swear.”

Kaneki shrugged at his friend. “Reading isn’t that bad, Hide. It’s actually quite entertaining. Like you can-“

"Save the speech, I’ve already heard it and don’t want to hear it again. I get it. It’s just not my thing to do for fun,” the bleached blond explained quickly, trying to avoid the whole spiel that Kaneki could go on about books and why he read them.

"Suit yourself."

The two continued to walk to their destinations. “I have to work again tonight. I hate being cooped up on a certain position for a long time… But I need the money,” Hide whined.

The raven gave his companion the side-eye. “You’re the one who decided to work at the movie theatre.”

"I thought it might give me some cool, free watching of movies…” The blond straightened up. “You need to loosen up, Kaneki, maybe get yourself a date or something.” Kaneki began blushing at the idea. “Hey! I have an idea! You how Halloween’s coming up, right?”

"Yeah...?"

"Every year, Anteiku holds a Halloween event. Everyone dresses up in costume and there’s decorations and music. You should find someone to invite with you! You know, finally get an actual date with an actual person.”

Kaneki looked to the sidewalk in front of his feet. “I don’t know. Maybe.” He slowed his walk as the grocery store came into view. “Anyways, I gotta get my shopping done, so I’ll see you another time.”

Hide looked at him for a minute. “At least think about what I told you, okay?” he said in goodbye, waving to the raven, who waved back before entering the grocery store.

The first thing Kaneki did upon entering the store was retrieve a basket to put the groceries in. He began walking the aisles, placing the items he needed into the basket hanging from his left arm. He contemplated what he would have for dinner that night. Maybe, since he had some extra money – he had been budgeting himself – he would make his favorite burger.

Dinner decided, he finished grabbing everything he needed, putting them in the basket and making his way to the front of the supermarket. All the lines seemed to be about the same in length, so Kaneki just went to the one closest to the door. He wanted to get home so he could put the groceries away and then relax, get some reading done since the book was practically calling his name.

After ten minutes of standing in line, checking out, and walking home, he was finally unlocking the door to his apartment. Entering it upon opening it, the raven made sure to move quickly as he put everything away, taking care to be sure everything was exactly where it needed to be. He’d had a tendency to place things where they didn’t belong and finding it out later.

When everything was put away, Kaneki settled onto the couch, pulling out the novel and picking up where he’d left off. Ah, it was such a great book and he wasn’t even halfway done. This would be a good evening. Takatsuki Sen and his favorite burger. Yeah, good.

 

The next day, Kaneki retrieved his novel by Takatsuki, placed it in a bag, and headed out the door. Even for the morning, today was better weather than what had been the last few days, so the black haired male didn’t have to continuously tug his jacket around his frame as he walked. With the route already programmed into his mind that he didn’t have to question whether or not the next turn he made was right, Kaneki made his way to his new favorite coffee shop. Yeah, Hide’d got him hooked.

Once outside of Anteiku, he took one glance at the sign out front before entering the shop. He found a table near the windows and took a seat, pulling his book out from the bag he’d brought with him. Inside the coffee shop was rather quiet with a few low voices in the background and Kaneki could not be more grateful. He could read in peace here.

Just as he was about to open the novel to the page he had last stopped on, he felt a presence next to him. Looking up, he noticed the dark haired woman from before – Touka was what Hide had called her – was standing next to his table. That’s when he realized that no one had greeted him in the usual manner when he’d entered. _Must’ve been break time or something._

"May I help you?” the waitress inquires with a smile that Kaneki can tell is a bit forced.

_After having to smile at customers all day, I’d be a little tired of it, too._

Smiling back politely, the raven orders his latte, watching as she walks away and goes to prepare his drink.

Dragging his gaze away from the female, Kaneki opens the paper pages to the spot where he’d last left off and let himself be pulled into the world of the story.

The black haired male didn’t know how long he was reading the pages when he finally heard a clearing of the throat from nearby. Snapping his head up, he realized that Touka was next to him and his latte was on the table. Giving a sheepish smile, Kaneki thanked her. But before she could walk away, he continued talking. “You’re friends with Hide, right, um…?”

The waitress paused in her walk and turned to look at her customer. “Hideyoshi? Yeah. And you can call me Touka.”

Kaneki hadn’t wanted to outright just call her that incase he offended the lady. But now he had permission to. “You also know Shiro, right? Since he works here, too, I’m right to assume you know each other?”

"Yeah. Today’s his day off, so he’s not here if you came here looking for him.”

A blush rose to Kaneki’s cheeks at the implication that he was only here to see Shiro. “N-no. I didn’t come here for him.” He paused, taking a drink of his cooling latte. “Can I ask you something?”

"Well, you just did, but,” Touka glanced around the shop, probably to make sure there were no customers that needing attending, “go ahead.”

"How did you meet Hide? How long ago?”

The waitress seemed a bit surprised before relaxing. “I’ve known Hide for quite a while now. We met because Yoshimura and Hide’s parents knew each other. I’d say it was before I even started working for Anteiku, and Hide comes here all the time to annoy me.”

Somehow, Kaneki knew that this was a long time. I really did just make assumptions. “And Shiro?”

"Shiro came to work here about a year ago or so. Nothing that spectacular,” was his response. He thanked Touka before she retreated to the counter.

Kaneki returned his attention to his novel, though for the first page he wasn’t really comprehending what he was reading with the thoughts in his head. He even had to go back and reread the whole page again. _I hope this feeling that I’m getting is just a stupid one._


End file.
